CROSS BORDER COOPERATION - POINT OF VIEW OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN ESTONIAN, LATVIAN AND RUSSIAN BORDER REGIONS Ain Jõesalu Euregio Pskov-Livonia Executive director, section Estonia 19.09.2012, Võru

History of Euregio 28.03.1996. In Karlskrona (Sweden) signed the memorandum of cooperation 20.04.1996. signed a declaration of cooperation in Pskov (Russian) 07.06.1996. was approved the regulation of Council of Cooperation in Border Regions (CCBR) 20.02.1998. introduced the Executive institution (confirmed the Directorate) 25.11.2003. CCBR was reformed as Euregio Pskov – Livonia

Territory of Euregio

Members of Euregio ESTONIA 4 associations of municipalities in counties - Põlva, Valga, Viljandi, Võru LATVIA 12 municipalities – Aluksne, Ape , Baltinava, Balvi, Cibla, Karsava, Ludza, Rugaji, Smiltene, Valka, Vilaka, Zilupe PSKOV OBLAST Pskov city 5 rayons – Gdov, Pechory, Pskov, Pytalovo, Sebež Territory - 26 407 km² Population - 546 000 (01.01.2012)

Euregio Pskov - Livonia – participant of Association of European Border Regions

Structure of Euregio

Co-operation AGREEMENT COUNCIL Working groups Presidium of EUREGIO Directorate President, 2 vice-presidents PSKOV-LIVONIA Section Pskov Section Latvia Section Estonia Co-operation AGREEMENT Three times a year Once a year 7 1 x Chairmen 7 3 separately legal entities with their own statutes, financing and decission making institutions

Strategic directions Development of Euregio as a strong international organisation Dissemination of information about cross-border co-operation Promotion of youth co-operation ( youth section of Euregio established 14.09.12) Rising the funds for the development of border regions (cross-border co-operation projects) Involving the SMS-s into the cross-border activities (tourism, partneriats etc). Promotion of the contacts between people and organisations in border territories – culture, education, sport

Examples of realised projects Expierence of administrative reform in Euregio Pskov – Livonia(TACIS) Exchange of information in border regions (PHARE) BEN project (INTERREG III B) BALTIC TANGENT (INTERREG IIIC) Project for people with special needs (Latvia – Estonia - Russia) DLA project (INTERREG IV C) SDF (Latvia - Estonia),”umbrella project”, 20 small projects, 6000 participants

Proposals of local authorities for CBC programmes 2014-2020 Euregio Pskov-Livonia is for continuing of EstLatRus programme Northern part of Latgale in Estonia-Latvia programme (8 municipalities) Put down Small Projects in Programmes as a measure (up to 10 000 euro) By decision making the local authorities as representatives of population to be involved Reduce the eligible territory Pre-financing in Estonia-Latvia programme Creation of job places in border regions, support of business environment

Thank you! Euregio Pskov-Livonia http://www.pskov-livonia.net